I brewed this on Memorial Day and kegged it the following Sunday. Final gravity was around 1.010, and fermentation had finished, at least I think. The krausen had fallen away but there were still some bubbles rising to the surface and then quickly dissipating. I mention this because the next beer I brewed with the yeast cake - a pilsner - finished at 1.005, much lower than I intended, anticipated, or wanted. So, was femrentation complete or did the pilsner pick up a contamination?
This beer tastes pretty good. It has a moderate body, enough sweetness to balance out a good amount of bitterness. My practice has typically been to dry hop my hop-forward beers, but I didn't with this one. As such - or maybe owing to something else - the aroma is fairly low. Color is a nice golden, honey-like yellow. It is still very hazy as I did not add gelatin. And I shook the keg in the last few days to increase carbonation. As I mentioned, the bitterness is fairly strong. I would probably dial it back next time. Some of that could possibly be due to the hop stand. Either way, I think my yeast experiment has been successful overall, though the attenuation of the pilsner is concerning. Nonetheless, I'm using the yeast cake for an Oktoberfest today.
